Anti-Iraq War Soldier Surrenders
Associated Press
March 16, 2004


NORTH MIAMI, Fla. - Shaken by a gunfight in Iraq that killed innocent civilians, a 28-year-old U.S. soldier declared the invasion "an oil-driven war" and said he won't return to the Middle East and fight.

Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, of Miami Beach, surrendered Monday at an air force base in Massachusetts, where he was ordered to report to his unit Tuesday at the North Miami Armory in suburban Miami.

His attorney, Louis Font, said he believes Mejia is the first soldier to turn himself in after refusing to return to Iraq. Mejia said he would seek conscientious objector status.

Mejia was in Iraq for about five months last year until October, when he returned home on leave. He did not return to duty.

"This is an oil-driven war, and I don't think any soldier signs up to fight for oil," Mejia said Monday after arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Mejia said he was particularly upset over an incident in which he and others were ambushed and innocent civilians were hit in the ensuing gunfire.

"That's one of the things that tells me there's no such thing as a fair war, no such thing as a just war," he said.

He did not believe his refusal to return to service in Iraq affected morale among the troops, saying: "I think the morale of the soldiers is already affected."

Mejia was ordered to report to his unit, the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment of the Florida National Guard, but it was not clear whether he would need to be transferred again to Georgia, where his unit was activated for Army duty.

"The Florida National Guard does not have any jurisdiction over the individual," said Lt. Col. Ron Tittle, a Florida National Guard spokesman. "He's active duty Army."

Mejia was accompanied by his lawyer when he surrendered to two military police officers at the gate of Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

"I have not committed a crime, and I should not run," Mejia said before turning himself in. Officers told him to fly immediately to Florida and report to his unit.

A native of Nicaragua, Mejia is a permanent resident of the United States who served in the Army for three years. He had served in the National Guard for five years when his unit was called to active duty. In civilian life, he was a psychology student at the University of Miami.

Mejia said he joined the military upon his arrival in the United States so he could work his way into American society. He could not say whether he might be deported because of his refusal to serve, but said "whatever sacrifice I have to make, I have to go there."

Tod Ensign, director of Citizen Soldier, a New York-based group that provides counsel and defense to military resisters and is organizing Mejia's defense, said Mejia could face up to one year in prison for being absent without leave and up to five years in prison if he is convicted of desertion.

"I am saying no to war; I have chosen peace," Mejia said Monday at an anti-war news conference. "I went to Iraq and was an instrument of violence and now I have decided to become an instrument of peace."

Sound Off...How should this military member be punished? Join the discussion.


http://www.military.com/NewsContent/...031604,00.html

He's just pissed about not getting some college tutition money is what I've heard. He's coping out by turning into a cowardly cry-baby. If he was in my unit and wanted to be a C.O. I'd send him to become a medic then he could become that instrument of peace he's yapping about. The guys a disgrace to anyone who's ever donned a uniform in defense of his country and its interests. Actually would have the guts to become a medic. "An oil driven war" my a**. Yeah they ought to send him back to wherever he came from but not until he's done a long stint in the stockade. If he wants to take the route of a C.O. then he has to pay the consequences for his actions like an adult.

Originally Posted by DTop

The guys a disgrace to anyone who's ever donned a uniform in defense of his country and its interests.

I don't think he donned the uniform to defend his country. I think he donned the uniform to USE our country. I also don't think that deportation is enough. I think he should have to pay back every cent he conned from the taxpayers. Maybe with intrest. I heard they can earn a small wage in prison.

he should be severly punished for this... he is just looking for an excuse to leave, he is not a real man, he is a coward. i have nothing against immigrants but even if he is legal he should be deported... Well maybe not all that, but he should serve his prison time.

Well he has till the end of the day to trun himself in for awol

i read about it this morning... Isn't he supposed to turn himself in, in florida or something... i am sure he will turn himself in other wise. they will definately be after him

Wow, if he doesn't want to fight for the war cause, I would atleast fight for the buddy next to me, its ashame

Let me see... he signed up to go to college and become an American citizen, but refused to do his part of the bargain? Wrong answer, and he deserves the desertion charge. Bottom line, as a soldier, it doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with the reasons behind the war, you do your job. Unless you are ordered to commit an atrocity, you shut your mouth, follow your orders, refuse to re-up, and go become a lobbyist in Washington. But first you do what you agreed to do. Try not to judge all foreign soldiers by this guy. Many of them are serving our country with distinction, whether they agree with the war or not.

First off, This guy wasn't a citizen of this country, He wasn't worthy of carrying the title of American Soldier, and since when is it HIS POSITION as a enlisted member, to decide what is right and wrong on the scale that he did. Contradicting the orders of the Commander in Chief, that is a huge disgrace. It makes the entire miltary look like fools, let alone the guard bureaus in each state. I would throw the book at this guy, maximum sentence in the brig, maximum fines, and deportation. Hell, I'd send his ass back over there and make him serve part of his sentence babysitting the cowards he is supposed to be against. Let him see what this war is really about. Lock him up in a cell with a bunch of those terrorist half-wits, and let them have thier way with him. I'd put the little ('') in the middle of his own hell. He's just as much a terrorist as the ones we're hunting down.

SRA, read my previous post, please. It is standard practice for citizens of other nations to EARN their US citizenship through military service. There are MANY fine soldiers in the military who were not born citizens of the U.S. Your post is disrespectful of their sacrifices, because you lump him in with them. I personally served with soldiers from Korea, France, Mexico, and England, all of whom were excellent soldiers, and whom America meant enough to that they had given up their countries and previous lives to serve it.